Having sat on the board of SME (Society of Manufacturing Engineers) Chapter 107 for several years now I’ve had time to evaluate the benefits and drawbacks to belonging to a professional society. So you may be saying, “why should I belong to a professional society, there’s nothing in it for me?” I truly believe that anyone in today’s economy striving to stay on top of their game could benefit from being a member in at least one of the many organizations. There are a number of societies out there, but I think these should be evaluated carefully before just jumping into one. It helps if you already have some contacts within the society, but it’s not a must. If you already are in one I’d love to hear about what you guys are doing so we could possibly share some ideas. Right now I’m presently in the process of starting a new student Chapter at the University of Tennessee. One thing that this does for students is it gets them out into manufacturing while still in school and allows them to possibly make contacts that may be valuable after graduation.

As Chairman of our local society it’s part of my responsibilities to set up an event for us each month. Typically we do plant tours and occasionally we’ll have a technical presentation. Here are some of the places we’ve visited and some of the technical presentations we’ve had: Siemens molecular imagining, Carlex Glass, Atlantic Research, Gerdau Ameristeel, Yale locks, Alcoa Aluminum, Smalley Manufacturing, PBR Automotive, The Spallation Neutron Source, TN watercraft, presentations on Iconics, PC based controls, New age plastics, Pros and cons of relocating your businesses in China and many more. As for me personally, it gives me a tremendous opportunity to meet many people in companies that I would never get to meet otherwise. It also gives me the opportunity to see their entire process through their eyes and where they may be experiencing bottle necks or other issues. I’ve also been invited into accounts with SME that I’d had trouble getting into as “just another salesman”.

The items I’ve mentioned above typically only appeal to the Industrial focused individual, but there are other great societies that focus on Business, Marketing, Public Relations, Machining, Logistics and many, many more. With the start of 2009 you may have made a New Years resolution that may include bettering yourself professionally, well this could be just what you need to give yourself a kick start!

Johnny Crowell CFPS

Territory Manager

Chairman SME chapter 107